The exchange will be led by CEO Jamil Nazarali, formerly a senior executive at Citadel Securities, billionaire Ken Griffin's massive trading operation. Other high-profile EDX backers include trading firm Virtu Financial (VIRT) and venture-capital firms Sequoia Capital and Paradigm.
"Crypto is a $1 trillion global asset class with over 300 million participants and pent-up demand from millions more," EDX Markets' board of directors said in a statement. "Unlocking this demand requires a platform that can meet the needs of both retail traders and institutional investors with high compliance and security standards."